The 2018-19 season has been one to forget for the Los Angeles Lakers and especially so for second-year point guard Lonzo Ball. Ball had to be shut down for the season with an ankle injury, watching as the team has floundered over the past few months to miss the playoffs.
Making matters worse for Ball is that he recently found out a longtime family friend and co-founder of Big Baller Brand, Alan Foster, has allegedly stolen $1.5 million from him. Ball cut ties with Foster over the weekend, dismissing him from the company, but it seems that won’t be the only fallout from this discovery.
Lonzo is the majority stakeholder in Big Baller Brand, with his father and Foster both owning just over 16 percent of the business. Over the weekend, Lonzo, his father, and the rest of his family apparently had discussions about potentially shutting the doors of Big Baller Brand completely, as there are rumors swirling the young guard could go to Nike.
The Ball Family had discussions over the weekend about folding @bigballerbrand and anything associated with Alan Foster. Story coming shortly on ESPN.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) March 25, 2019
It’s a shame that the company may end this way. While there were certainly skeptics — including the Lakers — about Big Baller Brand, it was nice to see someone stepping out of the conventional lane and trying to do something on their own. For it to end with someone on the inside apparently mishandling funds is unfortunate, but Lonzo has the support of his most prominent teammate in LeBron James, who is proud of the way he’s taken control of the situation and would be more than happy to bring him into the Nike family.
